Epilogue

EPILOGUE

One Year later…

Roman Palms Hotel

“You’re pouting again,” Nathan pointed out from the comfort of her office ten miles away.

“I’m not pouting,” Bailey mumbled sadly as she lay helplessly on her side across the insanely comfortable duvet that felt like a cloud as she did her best to look pathetic, hoping beyond hope that her brother would take pity on her and give her the distraction that she needed.

“Then, what would you call it?”Nathan asked, not bothering to look up from whatever he was doing.

“Making it easy for you to take pity on me so that you’ll tell me what I want to know,” Bailey said, debating between a heartfelt sigh and a sniffle only to decide to go with a combination of the two and-

“There’s nothing to tell,”Nathan said, still not bothering to look at her.

“Why must you lie to me?” Bailey asked with a heartfelt sigh as she reached back and helped herself to one of the many pillows stuffed behind her.

“What makes you think that I’m lying to you?”Nathan drawled as his gaze flickered to her.

“Because I know you,” she assured him with a solemn nod even as she debated ordering something to nibble on while she waited.

“Uh-huh,”Nathan murmured absently as Bailey took this opportunity to reach over and grab her phone off the nightstand and peruse her food delivery options.

“Have you talked to Casey lately?” Bailey asked as her gaze flickered to her iPad just in time to see that muscle in Nathan’s jaw twitch, which it did every time someone mentioned her sister’s name.

“No,”he bit out through clenched teeth as she was forced to bite back a smile.

“Oh,” Bailey said absently as she made a show of looking at her phone as she added, “Because I talked to her today.”

“Don’t fucking care,”Nathan said, sounding adorably pissed.

“Understandable,” she murmured, making sure to sound bored as she continued scrolling through her phone, taking in everything from burgers to Chinese food.

When he didn’t say anything else, and she really didn’t expect him to at this point, Bailey shifted her focus to her sandwich options and waited a few minutes before she looked back at her iPad to find her brother glaring at her. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before he broke, Bailey debated between a bacon cheeseburger and a-

“You really are a pain in the ass,”Nathan said as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face before gesturing for her to get on with it.

“I don’t really feel like it’s my place to say anything,” Bailey said with a sad shake of her head and a heartfelt sigh as she took an obscene amount of pleasure in watching his eyes narrow as that muscle in his jaw started throbbing again and-

“What are you doing?” she found herself asking as she watched Nathan grab his phone.

“Wondering why you’re trying to piss me off,” Nathan drawled as he shifted his focus to his phone and began typing something.

“Because it entertains me,” Bailey said, wondering how much longer she would be able to torment her brother before he broke. Probably not long, she thought, watching as that muscle in his jaw continued twitching.

He’d barely spoken to Casey since everything happened, but he’d watched her whenever she walked into the room, devouring her with his eyes until he realized what he was doing and tried to pretend that he wasn’t aware of her. And Casey…

Was everything that Bailey could have ever asked for in a big sister.

Casey was a smart ass with a caffeine obsession of her own without her unfortunate tendency to react badly, was laid back, an incredibly talented programmer, and loved to torment Nathan, which honestly just made her day. She loved having Casey around, loved having a sister who adored her and loved tormenting Nathan.

It was honestly more than she could have asked for.

“What did she tell you?”Nathan demanded with a glare that told her that she would pay for this as soon as she was allowed to come back to the office.

“Tell me about what?” Bailey murmured with a satisfied sigh as she noted the murderous glare that Nathan was sending her way.

She-

“What are you doing?” Bailey found herself asking as she watched her brother shift his focus to his phone seconds before a chime sounded behind her.

Nathan didn’t say anything, but then again, he didn’t have to, not when she felt the bed shift behind her, followed by the sounds of a heavy sigh as a large tan arm wrapped around her, careful of the large swell of her belly, and gently pulled her back. Swallowing hard, her gaze shifted back to her iPad to find her brother smiling smugly as he shot her a wink and-

“You really are a pain in my ass,” her incredibly understanding husband murmured sleepily as he reached over and ended the call.

“You knew this when you married me,” Bailey reminded him as he pressed his lips against the back of her neck.

“Yes, I did,” Quinn said as he placed his hand back on her belly. “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“I was sleeping, but Nathan missed me,” she pointed out, hoping beyond hope that he was willing to overlook the fact that she’d lied, especially since she’d promised that she would be on her best behavior so that he would let her tag along tomorrow.

Now that he was taking over for Tristan, he was set to expand the business with the help from one of the men from his old unit. He was meeting with Hunter O’Mallery, CEO of Shadow Security and the man who was currently supposed to be on house arrest and-

“I don’t think the meeting’s going to happen,” Quinn announced, making her frown in confusion, that is, until he added, “I saw Hunter drag his assistant out the back door and into a limo earlier.”

“Really?” Bailey asked, wondering if that had anything to do with the crazed woman screaming at the convention earlier. She opened her mouth to ask, only to close it with a wince at Quinn’s next question.

“And the laptop?” he asked, drawing her attention back to the laptop that she may have promised not to touch between the hours of eight p.m. and eight a.m. while she was pregnant.

Clearing her throat, Bailey said, “I have no idea how that got there.”

“I have a theory,” Quinn said, pausing to kiss the back of her neck. “Would you like to hear it?”

“Does it have anything to do with the fact that I’m a pain in the ass?” Bailey asked as she turned over and carefully got to her knees with her husband’s help, of course. Once she was assured that she wasn’t about to fall onto her side, she gestured for her husband to get on with it. With a heavy sigh, Quinn dutifully rolled onto his back and reached for her, and since that worked for her, she allowed him to pull her onto his lap.

Once she was there, Bailey shifted to get more comfortable, cleared her throat and once again gestured for him to continue. With a mock glare, Quinn drawled, “It might have something to do with it,” as he placed his hands on her large belly while she watched his lips pull up into that tender smile that was reserved solely for their baby girl.

“What are you up to?” Quinn asked, his gaze flickering up to her as he gently caressed her large belly.

“What makes you think that I’m up to something?” Bailey asked as she placed her hands over his.

“Besides the fact that I know you?” Quinn asked as he entwined his fingers with her.

Nodding, Bailey said, “Besides that.”

“I saw the look on your face when you found out that the digital copy of your game was being released early,” Quinn said with a teasing smile as he leaned up so that he could brush his lips against hers.

Blinking, Bailey said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” while she did her best not to glance at the laptop only to go for a hopeful smile when a chime let them both know that she had a message. When he narrowed his eyes on her, Bailey let that smile slip from her lips, cleared her throat and mumbled, “Excuse me,” as she pulled her hands free and leaned over so that she could see what Casey sent to her only to find herself sighing with relief when she saw the first review.

Worth the wait. Only on level two right now and this game is amazing! Never seen a game like this before!

“Thank God,” Bailey murmured, unable to help but smile.

They did it.

She still didn’t know how Nathan managed to pull it off, but he’d somehow managed to convince everyone to extend their contracts. They’d been left with an insane amount of work, but thanks to Casey, they not only managed to put the game back together in time, but they were able to create the program that they needed to pull it off and now…

Bailey had everything that she could ever want and so much more.

* * *

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